The 22nd PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship will be played for the 11th consecutive year at The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., May 9-11, 2008. PGA NEWS will recall special moments in the history of the Championship.

24 Days to go!

2003 PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship
Bethune-Cookman College of Daytona Beach, Fla., behind the stellar play of junior Luke Miller of England and senior James Douris of Australia, defeated Florida A&M University of Tallahassee, Fla., to win the men's Division I competition with a team total of 844 in the 2003 PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship at The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

The Wildcats took the lead in the final round when Miller posted a tournament record 8-under-par 64 and Douris came in with a 6-under-par 66.

This was Bethune-Cookman's third title at the National Minority College Golf Championship in the last five years.

Education through Golf
The PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship originated from a meeting in November 1986 following the Jackson State University Golf Tournament. The late Dr. Herschel Cochrane, Dr. Joe D. Saunders of the National Negro Golf Association, Jackson State University Golf Coach Eddie Payton, Rose Harper-Elder of the Sports Management Institute and William (Bill) Dickey founder of the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association and the 1999 PGA Distinguished Service Award winner, are credited as the founders of this Championship.

The goal was to elevate the game of golf in minority colleges and universities by giving them a chance to compete in a championship (because of a lack of opportunities to compete in NCAA Collegiate Golf events.) The first Championship was conducted in the spring of 1987 at Highland Park Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio. Since 1998, The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., has been host to the Championship.

In 2006, The PGA of America was granted complete ownership and management of the Championship by the National Minority Collegiate Golf Scholarship Fund.

In 1990, a Career Fair was conducted for the first time in conjunction with the Championship to provide corporate sponsors the opportunity to interview and recruit outstanding college students for future employment. As a result, the Career Fair has developed into an invaluable resource to assist students in gaining internships and full-time positions within the golf industry.

Also, State Farm Insurance has extended its sponsorship to support the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship through 2010. The State Farm sponsorship provides funding of a one-hour Championship highlight program on Golf Channel. Students from participating schools in the 2008 Championship can apply to receive scholarship awards from State Farm Insurance for their academic excellence at their respective institutions.

Now in its 22nd year, the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship will feature the largest field in the history of the prestigious National Championship.

The Championship will be staged for the 11th consecutive year at The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., May 9-11, 2008.

A record 52 colleges and universities, an increase of 14 from last year's Championship, are scheduled to participate in the three-day competition that will be contested on the Tom Fazio-designed Ryder and Wanamaker Courses. The Championship will feature a total of 236 athletes from 15 countries, an increase of more than 50 competitors from last year's event.